New Jeopardy! champion Emma Boettcher's chill, no-nonsense contrast to James Holzhauer is endearing

Slate

Boettcher has amassed $97,002 in her three days on Jeopardy!, counting her earnings from her victory over 32-time champ Holzhauer on Monday. "Why do I find Boettcher so endearing?" says Ruth Graham. "Probably in part because she is not overtly charming. She sports a business-casual wardrobe and a no-fuss Dorothy Hamill wedge. She is not 'ethereal, floating through the game with peerless grace,' as Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern wrote of Holzhauer. Holzhauer is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas; Boettcher is a university librarian in the Midwest. In her third game, on Wednesday, she flagged a bit in Double Jeopardy and did not secure her victory until the final question. She has worked tremendously hard to get where she is, trying out over and over and tracking her own scores at home for five years. And now she’s finally here, and she’s winning—$97,002 and counting."